Electronic mailing systems are now currently used within an increasing number of companies. Such a system enables users to exchange very quickly a lot of information using simple notes or more elaborate documents.
But documents which must be signed or approved are in most cases handled the archaic way. So every step in the process involves human intervention. The originator of the document must have a copy of the form. He gets copies of form from central stores which have to be administrated. Often he keeps copies for later use and risks using an outdated version of the form. When filling-in the form very little help is available and of course no error checking can be done. The form can often be confusing and difficult to complete, because cost considerations lead to the creation of multipurpose forms which can be used in all instances. A more elaborate form filling system has been disclosed in European application No. 0,269,875 wherein shell forms are processed.
Once the form is completed, the originator has to get it approved. The approval process can be simple (for instance approval by the originator s manager), in that case, a simple electronic mail forwarding operation would do the job.
But in most instances the requirements are more complex and several levels of management or functional approvals may be required, e.g. by a Financial Analyst, a Budget Controller, etc. . . . Often the approval process depends on data filled into the form: e.g. for a purchase order if the amount of a purchase requested doesn't exceed a given value, one level of management is sufficient, otherwise two levels of management are necessary, for instance. Also because of management decisions, approval rules for a given form can be changed without the form itself being changed.
With a conventional system, when the originator passes the document to the first approver (e.g. his manager) to get his signature (i.e. approval), he has lost control of it. He cannot be sure where the document is or who has it or if the document is hand carried or forwarded through internal mail. This prevails for any step in the approval process: first approver looses control upon transferring the document to the second approver and so on. Often approvers have to keep a paper copy of the document before passing it to the next approver.
In some instances approval has to be given by a delegate, but people may not know who the delegate is.
The approver list may also need to be modified during the approval process: an approver can be replaced by his manager, the order of approval can be changed or more information may be requested by an approver from another approver who has already signed.
Finally, all documents issued from forms and approved reach the person or the department who has to process and execute the request. First, checking must be done: data checking and approval process checking.
Then, if all is correct, action is taken such as keying the data into an operational system.
Generally, no information is returned to the originator. He has to wait until his request is satisfied, or he has to get information by phone or mail.
The documents are to be kept not only during all the time the involved approval process is running, but also after that, during a retention period fixed for each form.
All known systems, however, lack efficient means for monitoring filled-in forms (herein referred to as documents), dynamically and electronically computing any approval path to be followed by a specific form based on its contents when filled-in, and controlling said path as well as filtering any request for access to filled-in documents based on the requestor's function within the user's organization.